WellesleyWeston Magazine

SUMMER 2014

Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 180 of 203

Wellesley Hills Bancroft/
Heckle Neighborhood
Kevin Kehoe, insurance salesman at WT
Phelan and father of two, had lived in his
home for several years before he made a deci-
sion that would change his life. "I woke up on
January 1 nine years ago and made a New
Year's Resolution: I will get to know my neigh-
bors." That's when Kehoe decided he was
going to rekindle an old neighborhood tradi-
tion from his days growing up and organize a
summer block party. "I recruited two friends,
Eric Pearson and John Bee, to help, while on a
walk with my kids one evening," he says. He
made up 45 flyers, passed them out with his
kids and hoped for the best. "We blew up a
bouncy house, invited the local ice cream
truck, and asked the Wellesley police to send a
cruiser and the fire department to send a
truck. We met down in the circle and 35 peo-
ple showed up. It was great."
Now, nearly a decade later, the block party
brings out almost 100 people. Long-time
neighbors show up with their kids and
grandkids. There is face painting, a cotton
candy machine, and a popcorn machine. "We
have a bike parade, music, and a scavenger
hunt, which the kids love, since we pair the
older kids with the younger ones and they
run around looking for clues," says Kehoe.
And then there's the food. One neighbor
brings a huge platter of sushi. Another makes
homemade spring rolls. Kehoe always brings
pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, potato
rolls, sauces, and cheese, which he says is "always a favorite."
"Before we started the block party, it was so easy to just pull into the garage and disappear
until the next morning," admits Kehoe. "But now, when I'm driving down the street, I mouth
'hello' to people because I know who they are and what their kids are up to. The whole neigh-
borhood seems different. As my dad always said, 'strangers are just friends I haven't met yet.'
Now, instead of a neighborhood full of strangers, I have a neighborhood full of friends."
179
s
u
m
m
e
r
2
0
1
4
|
W
e
l
l
e
s
l
e
y
W
e
s
t
o
n
M
a
g
a
z
i
n
e
170-179_WWMb14_foodwine_block parties_v3_WellesleyWeston Magazine 4/25/14 12:24 PM Page 179